Thursday, January 16, 2014

Pope overhauls commission of cardinals supervising Vatican bank

Pope Francis has thoroughly overhauled the commission of 5 cardinals
who supervise the work of the Vatican bank, the Institute for Religious
Works (IOR).

The Vatican announced on January 15 that the Pontiff has renewed the
mandate of the supervisory commission, but replaced 4 of the 5 cardinals
on that commission.

The new commission is composed of: Cardinal Santos Abril y Castello, the
archpriest of the basilica of St. Mary Major; Cardinal Christopher
Collins of Toronto; Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna; Cardinal
Jean-Louis Tauran, the president of the Pontifical Council for
Inter-Religious Dialogue; and Archbishop Pietro Parolin, the Secretary
of State (who will become a cardinal at the February consistory).

The
Vatican did not indicate whether the Pope has appointed a chairman for
the commission; a report published last week by the Italian daily Corriere della Sera said that Cardinal Abril y Castello would be given that post.

Last February, shortly before his resignation, Pope Benedict XVI had
renewed the terms of 4 of the 5 cardinals then serving on the IOR
commission.

At the time, Vatican-watchers had been expecting a more
extensive turnover, in light of the problems that had plagued the
Vatican bank. Now Pope Francis has brought about the change, replacing 4
of the cardinals who had served less than 1 year of their proposed
5-year terms on the body.

Among the cardinals named by Pope Francis, only Cardinal Tauran had been
appointed by Pope Benedict last year.

The other members of the IOR
commission, whose terms have now ended, were Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone,
the former Secretary of State (whose place is now taken by his
successor, Archbishop Parolin); Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, the
president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See;
Cardinal Pedro Scherer of Sao Paolo; and Cardinal Telesphore Toppo of
Ranchi, India.